Etsy seller Just Bunch creates beautiful, custom personalized name paintings for children. Painted onto an 8″ x 10″ stretch canvas, each personalized name painting can be customized to a design of your choice, or using elements of some existing designs at her etsy shop. Customers may specify colors used, upper or lower case letters, designs, and more. At a price of just $25-30 each, this is a nice, personal gift for a baby or child.

One of my favorite children’s books is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. RoomMates is now selling wall appliques based on this classic children’s story. These peel and stick wall appliques would be a great addition to a nursery with an animal theme, or to a boy’s or girl’s bedroom. The set includes 36 appliques and sells for $13.49 at RoomMatesPeelAndStick.com.

Because we are in the midst of renovating the playroom, I bought a gorgeous print from Etsy shop TR Mack Studio. My print of choice was “The Tree of Happiness” and it is just as gorgeous in person as it was on the site. Packaged in plastic and again in a heavy envelope and shipped just as I requested, the vibrant print cost $13.50 and was worth every penny. After I frame it, it will add a lovely touch to our playroom. I’m sure it will be a conversation piece for visitors. There are many prints in all kinds of shapes and all as beautifully rendered as this one. Also, original paintings are available.

Most parents like to immortalize their baby’s handprints and/or footprints shortly after birth. Baby Print Art has taken that desire to artistic heights. This company creates personalized portraits of your child’s handprint, footprint, a combination of both, or the Picture Plus Portrait, featuring a picture of your child with a handprint and footprint included in the portrait. They are stunning, and have to be seen to be appreciated. These would make great new baby gifts for anyone. You can view the possibilities at BabyPrintArt.com. Prices start at $69.

I love unique yet traditional-looking artwork for the nursery. That’s why I noticed this C is for Car print recently while browsing ModernClassicsKids.com. Artist Jaimee McClellan creates this and many more beautiful works of art perfect for hanging in your little one’s nursery. This fine art photograph is available in four sizes: 4″ x 4″ for $8, 5″ x 5″ for $10, 8″ x 8″ for $20, and 12″ x 12″ for $40, at ModernClassicsKids.com.

Tired of your baby’s nursery decor? Does your toddler suddenly need a change in his room? Fun To See has great Room Makeover Kits, consisting of wall stickers that can transform a room into a totally different theme. From Undersea (shown above), to Farm, to Jungle and more, these kits have an average of 100 different sized removable and reusable stickers. Great for when your child gets a bit older and decides a farm theme isn’t cool enough for a kindergartener. You can view the array of room makeover kits available at FunToSee.com, where they sell for $45 each.

Choosing how to decorate the nursery is one of the most fun aspects of impending parenthood. Although it seemed like we were quite rushed this time around, I really had  a lot of fun. I still think we could have done a lot more than we did, too. I’ve always wanted to find a nice piece of wall art. We looked at some work by local artists when I was pregnant, but never found quite the right piece. Although it can be hard to judge online, I am quite enamoured with this Cherry Blossom Birdies piece. I love the color scheme, and I’m always drawn to birds. This doesn’t quite match the look of my little one’s nursery, but I love it all the same. It is appropriate for a baby, but it isn’t babyish. It would therefore grow well with a child over time.

This is also the kind of piece that I think is perfect if a new baby has to share a room with a sibling or mom and dad. It is just enough to make his or her corner of the room special without making the whole room look like a nursery. You can purchase this particular piece for $127 at poshtots.com.

We are just thinking about redecorating our son’s nursery. I noticed the other day that it still greatly resembles a nursery and that he has grown up so fast recently that he is due a big boy room! I’m not big on themes for rooms, mainly because I would never be able to decide on a theme and follow through, but when I found these the other day I realized that with a lick of paint and some wall stickers his room could be totally transformed at the fraction of the cost. Only now I’m having a hard time deciding on what wall stickers to purchase as they have some great designs including a blue fortress, Noah’s Ark, a circus design and, for girls, a pink Eiffel tower. These would be a wonderful addition in a playroom too.

These creative images were designed by artist Vanessa Verillon and are printed on high quality non-toxic self-adhesive paper and come in a pack with 4 sheets of motifs. I particularly like this Chateau one as you can become imaginative in the way that you assemble the stickers. For just $31.00 you can make your own original playroom or nursery for your child without having to totally redecorate. They are available at MySweetMuffin.com

[This is another in a series of posts by Susan Maphis covering the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade and sign up for her CPSIA Alerts Mailing List ]

Jamie’s Painting and Design is a small company that creates personalized ceramic keepsakes for children. The designs of artist/owner/founder Jamie R. Lentzer have been feautured on television’s Ellen and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Lentzer’s livelihood is now being threatened, however, by the CPSIA.

“I am very concerned about the law as it affects my company directly,” Lentzer says. “I make personalized ceramic keepsakes, wall art, plates and ornaments for children. They are not directly intended to be played with - however they do hang in a child’s or infant’s room.”

“The added testing to each batch of products is huge for my small company,” she continues. “I work with large and small retailers around the country and this, added to the dismal economic climate - it is disastrous. We cannot afford to test all 300 sku’s we have.”

What’s ironic is that, even though Lentzer’s products are marketed as children’s personalized creations, usually a child will never even touch the keepsake. “One problem I have with the law is that they are assuming the children are even coming in contact with these items, or that after I purchase the parts (that have no lead in them) and I assemble them to create my product - they are assuming I would put lead in them,” she says. “As a maker of basically a keepsake, or art, we have been recommended to to put a sticker on the back of every item we sell stating that it is not a toy and not to be handled or played with by children and it is to be hung on the wall by an adult.”

Personalized name plaques, such as the beautiful ballerina plaque above, sell for $35. If you’d like to view more of Lentzer’s products, visit JamiesPND.com.

[ For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade]